Despite Christie pledge, no help for Seaside Park homeowner who started Sandy repairs

Assurance from governor in March doesn't hold up

Jul. 12, 2013

This home on 10th Avenue in Seaside Park, owned by Chuck Appleby, has been jacked up, but further work is stalled because Appleby is waiting for government money for the project. / BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The governor’s qualifiers

“What I want you to do before you do it is to make sure that you reach out to the Department of Community Affairs, you go on the website, get the phone number, reach out to them, make sure you get your information to them so that they know that you’re proceeding.” “For those people who have done work and are going to be reimbursed, you’re going to get extra scrutiny.” Question: Will grant money be means-tested?

Christie: The means testing will be — and this is stuff set by the federal government. The means testing is combined joint income of $250,000 or less, OK? Now what you saw about low and moderate income is that 50 percent of the money that’s distributed must go to low- and moderate-income folks, and that’s the number you saw of $51,000 per year or below. But the means testing for all the grants is no higher than $250,000 in joint income. So 50 percent of the money will go to people between $50,000 and $250,000. 50 percent about approximately will go from zero to $50,000. Question followup: If I raise my home now, will I be entitled to get grant money later?

Christie: We’ve worked this out with the federal government that if you make arrangements now to have your home raised, that we will be able to reimburse folks for that, OK? So — but what I want you to do before you do it is to make sure that you reach out to the Department of Community Affairs, you go on the website, get the phone number, reach out to them, make sure you get your information to them so that they know that you’re proceeding. Now you’re not going to have to wait long because the federal approval for this program should come in about two weeks, and so then there’ll be an application process on the board so you may want to start to look into it now, but the practicality of it is you may not even get your work started until you can actually apply for the program, and so we do have some people who have already done work on their homes and we worked hard to try to get reimbursement for those folks who have an agreement to get reimbursement. Of course the concern is always fraud, right, that the repairs you made weren’t really connected to the hurricane, and so we’re concerned about it. So for those people who have done work and are going to be reimbursed, you’re going to get extra scrutiny. Let me promise you right now that, you know, we’re really going to look hard to make sure we see the receipts, that they’re dated the right way, that the damage is consistent with flood damage and all the rest of it, and it’s not because we want to be difficult on you but because we want to make sure that people who really need this money are the people who get it and that we don’t see other people defrauding others and trying to game the system. I’m sure there’s going to be some who will do it. For those folks, I want them to be reminded, though, you tell any of those folks who are willing to defraud my administration is filled with former federal prosecutors who miss being federal prosecutors and would like nothing more than to begin prosecuting again, all right? But we’re going to be there to help and the means testing, and the low and moderate-income piece were all federal requirements on that money, but as long as you make less than $250,000 per year in income you’re going to be eligible for the programs. Source: Transcript from Gov. Chris Christie’s office

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Back in March, as he grappled with how to get his family back into their Seaside Park home damaged by superstorm Sandy, Chuck Appleby wanted answers.

The 48-year-old Seaside Park Planning Board member was satisfied with one answer he heard: If you build now, you will be reimbursed, Christie said. So Appleby, who is unemployed, went ahead with rebuilding his home.

But now, more than three months later, reimbursement for Appleby is no longer the case, and in fact it never was. Money already spent on work on homes such as Appleby’s cannot be recouped under the $600-million Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation program set up after the town hall meeting and administered by the state Department of Community Affairs.

“I listened to them, and I did what they said, and now I feel thrown under the bus,” said Appleby, who figures he put out $70,000 under the assumption he would get it back.

Appleby’s home now stands nine feet in the air while he decides whether to wait for grant money or move ahead with the project, tapping into retirement money to complete it. Watch the video above to see the Appleby’s home.

Expensive question

Appleby’s home on 10th Avenue — the street where he grew up — sustained more than 50 percent damage from the Oct. 29 superstorm, an important factor. A woman sitting in front of him asked the question about rebuilding before applying for a grant, he said.

Christie said: “We’ve worked this out with the federal government that if you make arrangements now to have your home raised, that we will be able to reimburse folks for that, OK?” according to a transcript provided by the governor’s office.

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In his answer, Christie added what his office called qualifications, such as that people seeking reimbursement would face greater scrutiny to prevent fraud. He also said people should contact the Department of Community Affairs “so that they know that you’re proceeding.”

But in June, the DCA said homeowners who sustained more than 50 percent damage to their homes in the storm could not be reimbursed for work already completed because the work first needed to be environmentally cleared under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rules. HUD provided the grant money that will provide homeowners with up to $150,000 each to rebuild or elevate or both.

If a home was less than 50 percent damaged, the work could be reimbursed after clearing an environmental review, said DCA Deputy Commissioner Charles Richman.

Putting up a fight

Richman said Tuesday that the fact that there is any reimbursement provision at all is rare for a federal grant program. Christie fought for reimbursement and the discussions were still underway when Christie held the town hall meeting, he added.

“There was quite a bit of back-and-forth with HUD for months after the storm,” Richman said. “Discussions are still going on.”

The governor’s spokesman, Michael Drewniak, said: "Things were in flux at that time in March as we awaited approval from HUD on our action plan.The Governor did express many caveats at the time because of that. It is still our expectation that people with homes that are less than ‘substantially damaged’ can apply and receive reimbursement. Importantly, I would also point out that this sort of reimbursement – for prior work done – is not typically reimbursed by the federal government, but Governor Christie has been forceful in getting that reimbursement where previously it was off limits."

Back to it

Appleby has been one of the go-getters of the Sandy recovery effort, a storm victim who delved into the mind-numbing details of rebuilding, elevation, Federal Emergency Management Agency payments, insurance claims and myriad other vexing issues.

He estimates his family suffered $100,000 in damage to their 3,000-square-foot home. So far, with engineering and architectural fees and the cost to elevate the home, not including a new, completed foundation, he has spent $70,000 — money he likely would have recouped if Christie’s assertion March 21 proved true.

Sam Sachs of Toms River, a criminal defense attorney, did not wait for federal money to elevate his home, and is glad he didn’t. He realized over the Fourth of July weekend that he wouldn’t have been eligible for the money because of his decision.

“I just decided to go ahead and start working,” he said. “If you want the money, you’ve just got to let (your home) rot, which is insane.”